Synonyms for precaution
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Caution
care, caution, forethought, prudence, foresight, provision, wariness, anticipation, providence
2. Guard
Other
forecaution dated
Definitions
- n. 1
Previous caution or care; caution previously employed to prevent misfortune or to secure good.
his life was saved by precaution
- n. 2
A measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success; a precautionary act.
to take precautions against risks of accident
Related words
- Word family
- precautional precautionary prevention
Forms
- Plural
- precautions → cares, cautions, forethoughts, prudences…
Choose the right word
Precaution is allied with care, prudence with caution; a man rides a dangerous horse with care; caution will keep him from mounting the horse; precaution looks to the saddle-girths, bit and bridle, and all that may make the rider secure.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- caution The soldiers headed for the frontier with caution.
- prudence It is clear that he failed for lack of prudence.
- forethought I don't think Tom did that with any forethought.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| precaution | steady | |
| caution | steady | |
| prudence | steady | |
| forethought | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- care1
- 5 letters
- guard1
- 7 letters
- caution2
- 8 letters
- prudence2, wariness3
- 9 letters
- provision3, foresight2
- 10 letters
- providence3
- 11 letters
- forethought2, forecaution
- 12 letters
- anticipation5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (caution2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- précaution
- Italiano
- precauzione
- Español
- precaución
- Deutsch
- Umsicht